Selling pressure continued in afternoon trade as the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, hit fresh intraday low. The Nifty 50 index, however, continued to hover in a narrow range. At 13:16 IST, the Sensex, was down 28.76 points or 0.11% at 26,849.48. The Nifty 50 index was currently down 7.50 points or 0.09% at 8,266.30. The Sensex was currently trading below the psychologically important 27,000 mark, after hitting an intraday high above that level in mid-morning trade.
The Sensex and the Nifty, both, reversed direction soon after hitting their highest intraday level in almost two months in mid-morning trade. The Sensex fell 43.52 points, or 0.16% at the day's low of 26,834.72 in afternoon trade. The index rose 131.37 points, or 0.49% at the day's high of 27,009.61 in mid-morning trade, its highest level since 11 November 2016. The Nifty fell 14.40 points, or 0.17% at the day's low of 8,259.40 in mid-morning trade. The index rose 33.05 points, or 0.40% at the day's high of 8,306.85 in mid-morning trade, its highest level since 11 November 2016.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.17%, outperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently down 0.01%. The decline in this index was lower than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1,323 shares fell and 1,209 shares rose. A total of 155 shares were unchanged.
Most telecom shares declined. Reliance Communications (down 2.46%), Idea Cellular (down 1.47%) and MTNL (down 0.75%), edged lower. Bharti Airtel was up 0.51%.
Bharti Infratel rose 1.66% to Rs 355.55 on reports a foreign brokerage has upgraded its recommendation on the stock to buy. The brokerage expects stronger tenancy growth for Bharti Infratel. Bharti Airtel's stake sale in the company could be a catalyst, it added. The brokerage has raised its earnings estimates for Bharti Infratel by 2-3% for FY 2018-19.
Capital goods shares were mixed. GE Power India (up 2.09%), Siemens (up 1.87%), Havells India (up 1%), ABB India (up 0.93%), Thermax (up 0.82%), Reliance Defence and Engineering (up 0.45%) and BEML (up 0.01%), edged higher. Lakshmi Machine Works (down 0.1%), Jindal Saw (down 0.17%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (down 0.23%), SKF India (down 0.48%), Bharat Electronics (down 0.65%), Praj Industries (down 0.71%), AIA Engineering (down 0.76%), Punj Lloyd (down 0.99%), GE T&D India (down 1.78%) and Suzlon Energy (down 2.25%), edged lower.
Engineering and construction major L&T was down 0.08% to Rs 1,392.80.
MBL Infrastructures hit 5% upper circuit at Rs 40.15, with the stock extending 5% gains in the previous session on bargain hunting after the recent heavy selling.
Shares of MBL Infrastructures had witnessed unabated selling post announcement of reverse turnaround in Q2 results on 14 December 2016. MBL Infrastructures reported consolidated net loss of Rs 121.84 crore in Q2 September 2016 compared with net profit of Rs 17.47 crore in Q2 September 2015. Consolidated net sales fell 7.9% to Rs 378.99 crore in Q2 September 2016 over in Q2 September 2015.
Shares of the company had dropped 55.62% in sixteen sessions to close at Rs 36.45 on 4 January 2017 from its close of Rs 82.15 on 13 December 2016.
Selling pressure was also aggravated after MBL Infrastructures on 14 December 2016 announced that Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation Limited (MPRDC) illegally terminated two projects being executed by the 100% subsidiaries of the company.
Overseas, most Asian stocks were trading higher today, 6 January 2017. China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.35%. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.34%. In US, the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed at a record yesterday, 5 January 2017, as the broader stock market finished lower, dragged down by a steep slide in the financial sector and major retailers. Mixed data on jobs also raised concerns a day before the closely watched December employment report due today, 6 January 2017.
In US, the private sector added 153,000 jobs in December, according to ADP, a rate that was below forecasts, while first-time jobless claims fell 28,000 in the latest week, dropping to a nearly 43-year low. Separately, a reading on the US services sector held steady at a 12-month high in December, suggesting growth in non-manufacturing activity, mainly the service sector, remains strong.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
